Operation Fath ol-Mobin

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Battle of Shush (Operation Fath ol-Mobin)
Part of Iran–Iraq War
Operation Fath ol-Mobin, Map
Date 22–28 March 1982 (6 days) Location Shush, Khuzestan, South-West Iran Result Iranian victory Territorial changes Iranians recapture the Dezful–Shush area Iraqi siege on Shush is broken
Belligerents
Iraq	Iran
Commanders and leaders
Saddam Hussein	Ali Sayad Shirazi Hossein Kharrazi Mohammad Boroujerdi Massoud Monfared Niyaki Masoud Golshani †
Strength
80,000–160,000 soldiers	80,000–100,000 regulars 40,000 Pasdaran 30,000 Basij 15,000 militia
Casualties and losses
8,000 killed 10,000-20,000 captured[1] 361 tanks, IFVs & APCs, 18 aircraft, 300 vehicles, 50 artillery pieces & 30 engineering vehicles destroyed 150 tanks, 170 APCs, 500 vehicles, several SA-6 missiles, several surface-to-surface missiles, 165 artillery pieces (182 mm, 130 mm, 152 mm) & 50 engineering vehicles captured[2]	4,000 killed 12,000 wounded[1] 196 tanks and ≈200 APC's destroyed[1]

Operation Fath-ol-Mobin (Persian: عملیات فتح‌المبین, a Quranic phrase meaning "Undeniable Victory" or "Manifest Victory") was a major Iranian military operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War, in March 1982 and resulted to the Battle of Shush. The operation was led by Lt. General Ali Sayad Shirazi and was conducted in four phases.

Some believe that this operation was the turning point in the war^[3][4] and that it led to the eviction of Iraqi troops from Khuzestan. Others (including Efraim Karsh) believe it was actually the operation working in tandem with others which led to the expulsion of Iraqi troops from southern Iran. He believes that in fact, Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas, which lasted from April to May 1982, had the greatest effect, because the Iranians were able to liberate the strategically important city of Khorramshahr.